webfact Posted October 6, 2019 Share Posted October 6, 2019 Phuket Opinion: The Phuket Vegetarian Festival, a battle for spiritual authenticity By The Phuket News A young boy joins devotees carrying an image of a Chinese god during a street procession held for the Phuket Vegetarian Festival. Photo: IMAGE Asia / file PHUKET: Phuket Governor Phakaphong Tavipatana announcing that the Vegetarian Festival this year is expected to bring a B2 billion boost to the local economy would normally be perceived as good news. Yet doubts hover when it is understood that – even if that figure is not inflated – just five years ago the Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT) gave a predicted estimated tourism revenue for the festival period of B3bn. However, Governor Phakaphong did give one figure that lent a lot of credence to the B2bn expectation: that the pre-festival occupancy rate for hotels in Phuket Town and other key areas associated with the festival stood at 65%. That is not a figure hoteliers would want to shout about, not even in the “low season”. The reasons given for the current slump in tourism are many and oft-reported: a global economic slowdown, the strong baht value hitting tourists on exchange rates, the US-China trade war, the list goes on. Yet the Vegetarian Festival itself has suffered a slump in popularity of its own in recent years. Read more at https://www.thephuketnews.com/phuket-opinion-the-phuket-vegetarian-festival-a-battle-for-spiritual-authenticity-73144.php#6vxrc8jarXVAZxtt.99 -- © Copyright Phuket News 2019-10-07 Follow Thaivisa on LINE for breaking Thailand news and visa info Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RichardColeman Posted October 7, 2019 Share Posted October 7, 2019 4 hours ago, webfact said: Yet the Vegetarian Festival itself has suffered a slump in popularity of its own in recent years. Maybe due to vegetarians all being stuck to buses, trains and roads with super-glue Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Somtamnication Posted October 7, 2019 Share Posted October 7, 2019 Vegetarian my ................... Wife had me eat that stuff all week; dripping in god-knows what oil, super sweet and I can go on. Nothing veg at all with most of the stuff on the menus. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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